Coach Stevens with her seniors: Megan Lewis (14), Amy McConnell (10) and Victoria Lux (32)
Coach Stevens with her seniors: Megan Lewis (14), Amy McConnell (10) and Victoria Lux (32)

Bentley Looks for 25th Double-Digit Win Streak of Stevens’ Era While Celebrating Pink Day & Senior Day

WALTHAM, Mass. – There have been 24 double-digit winning streaks during Barbara Stevens' 33 years as Bentley University's women's basketball coach, including one of 12 games to start the current season.

Stevens and her team will be looking to push that count to 25 on Saturday when they host Saint Anselm College at 1:30 pm at the Dana Center. Prior to the contest, the Falcons will celebrate Senior Day and it will also be the team's Annual Pink Day game as they'll be raising money to fight cancer. If you can't make it to the Dana, watch live on the NE10 NOW digital network.

Bentley, after clinching the Northeast-10 Conference's Northeast Division on Wednesday evening, is 22-2 overall and 16-1 in the conference with four regular season games to play. Five of the games during the current nine-game streak have been decided by single figures.

The Saint Anselm Hawks are tied for second in the Northeast Division after dropping back-to-back games and three of their last five. The Hawks will come into the Dana at 16-6 overall and 11-6 NE10.

Bentley's senior class of center Victoria Lux (Arundel, Maine/Thornton Academy), guard Amy McConnell (South Windsor, Conn./South Windsor HS) and forward/guard Megan Lewis (Sevenoaks, England) have combined for an impressive 105-18 record thus far during their four seasons. Their resume includes three Northeast Division titles, NE10 championships in both 2016 and 2018, and a trip to the 2016 Elite Eight.

The trio of captains, who have nearly 2,500 points combined, will be recognized for their contributions prior to the game.

McConnell, coming off a 21-point effort in Wednesday's 72-66 win over Southern New Hampshire that matched her career-high, has taken over the team-high in scoring. Her scoring output is up to 11.6 points per game and she has one more point than Lux. Her .467 three-point accuracy leads the NE10 and is second in Bentley history to the .468 posted by Becky Davison in 2002-03.

During Wednesday's game, Lux moved to fifth on Bentley's all-time rebound list with 879 after surpassing 2014 national champion Lauren Battista. Over the last three games, she has averaged 15.7 points and 7.7 rebounds.

Lewis, who has another year of eligibility remaining, has played in four games since returning from injury that sidelined her for nine games. During that stretch, she's averaged 8.5 points while shooting 11 of 20 overall and 5 of 11 from outside the arc.

Stevens, whose career win total stands at 1,033, has been getting strong play this month from junior guard Maddy Springfield (Jaffrey, N.H./Conant HS). In her first four February games, she's made 9 of 18 three-pointers and averaged 10 points and eight rebounds.

Bentley leads the Northeast-10 in scoring margin (+14.9), field goal percentage (.439), three-point shooting (.402) and defensive rebound percentage (.752).

Saint Anselm, coming off a heartbreaking buzzer-beating overtime loss at Assumption, features six-foot-four junior Shannon Ryan, whose averages of 19.1 points and 12.5 rebounds both rank second in the Northeast-10. She's tied for second in Division II nationally with 17, a total exceeded only by Southern Connecticut's Kiana Steinauer. Ryan has scored at least 30 three times this season and has a pair of 20-point games.

Sophomore guard Peyton Steinman has also been having a strong season for the Hawks, averaging nearly 14 points and six rebounds.

Coach Corey Boilard's team is fourth in the NE10 in scoring (69.7) and second in points allowed (58.4).

The two teams met at Saint Anselm on Dec. 8 and Bentley returned home with a 60-51 win. McConnell led the Falcons with 19 points and five steals while Ryan had more turnovers (5) than points (4). She did block six shots and also had nine rebounds.

Bentley has its final two road games of the regular season coming up next week with the Falcons visiting St. Michael's Wednesday and Merrimack Saturday. The regular season concludes Feb. 26 with Bentley hosting Franklin Pierce.